Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) has always been proud of the religious and cultural monuments in its territory, considering them part of its historical and cultural heritage. The people of Artsakh are also concerned about the preservation of Russian religious and cultural heritage monuments. This is noted in the statement disseminated by the Embassy of Armenia in Greece. The statement continues as follows, in particular:
It is noteworthy that the state budget of the Artsakh Republic envisages expenditures for the preservation and restoration of historical and cultural monuments every year, as the domain of preservation, study, and use of historical and cultural monuments is one of the most important and special domains of the history and culture of the Artsakh Republic.
The Russian Holy Mother of God Church is located in Gevorgavan precinct of the Martuni region of the Artsakh Republic. The church was built more than 100 years ago by immigrants from Russia. It is made of limestone, yellowish in appearance. It has two entrances, which open from the west and north sides. There are more than two dozen windows. The parishioners of the church were Russian settlers. In 1989, the restoration work of the church began, which was interrupted due to the [military] aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, during which the church again suffered great damage. Before the start of the war in 2020, the government of the Artsakh Republic was working on a project to restore the church and was looking for a sponsor to start the restoration work.
Thus, the propaganda material disseminated by an Anastasia Lavrina and the Azerbaijani Embassy in Greece in Greek translation about the Armenian side’s alleged "encroachments" on the Russian Orthodox religious heritage in the territory of the Artsakh Republic is another provocative, groundless, and false disinformation. It aims to spread hatred towards Armenians and try to drive a wedge in the relations between Armenia and its relatives. The country [i.e., Azerbaijan] that deliberately destroys cultural monuments is trying to cover up, with baseless accusations, the numerous cases of vandalism committed by it.
Despite the rulings of the International Court of Justice, Azerbaijani officials continue to spread targeted racial hatred [against Armenians] and do not take any steps to stop the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage.